Memories of the Two Moons
by Keith 'AzureGrimoire' Kurogane
Summary: Crescent Moon Phase They have prepared for the possibility and steeled themselves as they dived back into their nightmare. They never thought that they will be back into the beginning, and their presence could change everything.
1. Crescent Moon Prologue: oath sign

Author's Notes: I would like to call of the attention of my beta Mashadar for posting this story early... I know that my characterization and grammar is still over the place. But as time goes by, the time I spend on writing this is getting shorter and shorter. (Because I'm currently play VNs like Hoshizora no Memoria, Endelweiss, Deardrops, etc... and not mention RL problems..)

I want this story to go past chapter 1...

Oh, and thanks to Electric Eclectic to doing the editing for me!

* * *

**Prologue: oath sign**

Kyouya Wales Hiraga always believed that he was living a normal life. From being an above average student; the second best kendo/iaido practitioner on their school; his average athletic ability; hanging out with his (girl)friends; and having a loving mother and a good father.

It cemented his belief that, yes, he was living a normal life…

"Marry me Raito!"

"Sorry! But I have to focus on playing baseball!"

"That's not in the manuscript!" *THWACK*

…well, almost a normal life.

Kyouya's father regular work was in the police force and his mother works in a bakery in their neighborhood. But every night, the two of them always find time to write their story series titled, "Night Sky under the Two Moons". Yes, they're authors, but unlike normal authors who just sit in front of their computers and type away, the couple spend time 'Roleplaying' the characters and discussing random stuff. He once caught his mother carrying whipped cream, catsup, and mayonnaise to their room and told him that they'll be using those for 'Roleplaying'. It took Kyouya quite some time to remove the image of his mother covered in whipped cream in his mind.

The first book of the series, entitled "Crescent Moon: Dreams and Reality", became popular because the story ended up on a tragic note, with majority of the characters ended up being dead or something even worse than death, while the two major characters fates were left hanging after their escape. He had read the master copy before they submitted it to the publishers, but Kyouya had to wonder if the whipped cream, catsup, and mayonnaise they used for their 'Roleplaying' were past their expiration date.

Still, Kyouya's mom told him that his dad was planning on writing a continuation to that story. He always wondered why they both have this distant look in their eyes whenever they discuss about the story though...

It was Saturday when Kyouya's (girl)friends decided that they should go on a two day outing in Kyoto. He could have declined the offer since Saturday is the only day in the week that he and his parents could get to bond together, usually with games, but when his mom told him that he shouldn't neglect his friends too... well, how could he refuse?

Looking back, Kyouya thought that she always knew what would happen, and the adventures and hidden truths he would soon discover about their story...

-=0=-

"Do you have everything in your bag?"

"Yes dad," Kyouya replied for the second time, eyes rolling at his dad's insistent nature of checking and double-checking just about everything he was taking with him.

"Extra clothes?

"Check."

"Cellphone?"

"Yes." He answered with the long suffering sigh practiced by teenagers everywhere.

"Laptop?"

"Why do I need the laptop again?" Kyouya asked incredulously when his father practically shoved his laptop inside his bag.

His father raised an eyebrow at the question. "To keep you entertained? Charger."

"You gave me the manual one… you know, the one with the crank."

"It's good for your arm muscles!" A finger poked at his arm. "You need to work out more. Now, lighter and Swiss army knife?"

"Gods dad..." Kyouya facepalmed at the growing mountain of items being packed into his bag, "We're going on a weekend trip to Kyoto, not camping in the mountains..."

Undeterred, the elder Hiraga continued, "A man must be prepared in all occasions. Toi-"

"Yeah…" Kyouya cut his father off, "I have two rolls of toilet paper in my bag."

"Well…"

"Dear," the calm voice of Kyouya's mom was heard, "Stop egging Kyou-chan."

"But darling!" the elder Hiraga fell on his knees and hugged his wife's waist, "Our prince is going so far away…"

"I'm just going to Kyoto!" Kyouya snapped, throwing a glare at his father, "Jeez dad, if I ever learn that you're using me as a research subject for your next book, I'm going to smack you so hard with my shinai…"

"Wah!" The elder Hiraga lept up and hid behind his wife, "Kyouya's too sharp! He's seen through my plan and is going to exact his horrible revenge on me." He sobered at that, giving his son a serious look, "For being such a meanie, you're going to get a punishment. I'm going to write an ecchi novel with you as the main-" An elbow in the stomach, courtesy of his wife, quickly brought an end to his plans for vengeance.

"Thanks mom," Kyouya smiled at his savior, getting a similar expression in return.

"Anyway, you should take this at least," she said, pressing a pendant with a blue crystal inset into his hand, "as a good luck charm."

"I'll take care of this. But," Kyouya raised an eyebrow as he looked at his mom while he fastened the necklace around his neck, "Isn't this a bit expensive to be a good luck charm?"

"If it's for you, Kyou-chan, I'm willing to spend the extra money." She replied as she patted Kyouya's head lovingly.

"Then… can you buy me a XBOX 360?" Kyouya quickly asked.

"No." Kyouya's parents spoke in unison.

"Aw… Anyways, I should be going now."

His mother smiled, giving him a quick kiss on the forehead. "Take care."

"I will. Bye mom!" He gave her a quick peck on the cheek before turning to salute his dad, "Bye dad."

"Take care of yourself son." The elder Hiraga waved back as he watched their son leave home.

A few seconds later, once Kyouya had turned the corner and vanished, Kyouya's father spoke to his wife. "Did the Voidstone resonate? Do you think he might be the one?"

She nodded grimly, "I do not believe it can be any other," she shook her head, looking towards her husband, "He will be summoned as you were. Our past is starting to haunt us..."

"A destiny we can't escape." There was a sigh, a faint slump to his shoulders as it sank in, but the man smiled reassuringly at his wife, "Don't worry, we knew this day would come eventually. We've been planning against it for five years now... we'll pull through this."

"I know..." She took her husband's hand, squeezing the limb for reassurance before saying, "Let's call your parents then. We have a lot to do before we can put our plan into motion."

He pulled her hand into a brief hug, "To war then?"

"To war," she murmured, pausing as a small grin made its way to her lips. "and no cheats this time."

"We won't need them." He chuckled. "Count on it"

-=0=-

Halfway on his walk towards the train station, Kyouya had to shake his head at the amount of luggage he was hauling. If a policeman saw him now, the officer would probably think he was running away from home and be justified in thinking that too, he admitted with a grin. He was old enough to understand that dad meant well, but he'd gone way overboard with everything.

_'Seriously, toilet paper?'_

If he didn't know better, it was as if the elder Hiraga was expecting him to end up in the middle of a forest. Or maybe some backwards country that never heard about toilet paper, like that character in his parent's book. Even India had toilet paper.

It was on that tangent that he spied something on display in a passing bookstore, the similarities getting an amused chuckle out of him. The Night Sky under the Two Moons was his parent's debut piece after all. Thinking about it though, even if he knew the story from back to forth, and his mother possessed a master copy, he'd never had a copy of his own, which was a little strange now that he considered it.

_'Hmm, why not?'_

Acting on impulse, he made a quick purchase, deciding to skim quickly through the first chapter while he walked towards the train station.

He never noticed the green portal suddenly forming beneath his feet, not until he was falling. There was a strangled cry of surprise, suddenly cut off with the sharpness of a knife, and then Kyouya Wales Hiraga vanished from the face of the world.

-=0=-

"Sir, we have received an emergency call from Crow 1 and Crow 2… they said that Abel has disappeared while they're watching him."

The man who received the report groaned, "Did they lose track of their subject?"

"They sent us a video," the grunt took out a touchpad and showed the man a clip that Crow 1 sent. "We have also detected an energy spike during the time Abel had disappeared."

"Just like what happened to Adam…" the man then looked at the grunt and asked, "When will our project be completed?"

"Forty eight hours sir."

"Make it thirty six."

"But sir-" the grunt tried to reason, but was silenced by the man's glare. "I'll tell the technicians."

"Good. By the way, call back the Amaryllis Team; I'll be assigning them to a new mission."

"Yes sir." The grunt saluted before leaving the room.

The man then turned his gaze towards the photo frame on his desk and smiled, "Hang in there kiddo, Grandpa will send your guardian angels to pick you up." He then turned his gaze on the Remington M24 sniper rifle that was displayed on the wall. "And I'm going to personally lay waste on those who will harm you."

-=0=-

Kyouya's mom suddenly shivered as the feeling of the Water Ruby she gave to her son suddenly vanished. "Saito!"

"Oh Anne, have you seen-" the question made by Saito was never completed because of the look Henrietta was giving him, "Aw crap. Already?"

She nodded in reply. "Kyouya shouldn't be in any danger immediately. Things shouldn't have changed so much if they're still using the ritual, so we have a little time to prepare our cover story at least."

"I know..." Saito sighed, heading back into the basement and emerging with several sealed boxes. "At least this time we don't have to explain to my parents what's going on." Unspoken was the lengthy amount of time and effort it had taken to convince them of the truth of his story, much less his wife's origin and obvious language problem.

"Can you blame them?" She asked, easily picking out his thoughts as she went through her own preparations, "Our worlds are so far apart it's hard to believe everything that happened." A box was opened to reveal a number of guns, stacked neatly beside several cases of ammo, enough to last them for quite a long time. Well, she at least hoped they would last a while. "They're still going to have a heart attack once they realize their grandson has gone missing to another world."

"You gave Kyouya the water ruby," Saito replied with somber tone, opening another box and pulling out a pair of bulletproof vests. "If your theory about the rubies being able to seek each other out holds true, we should be able to get him out of there before it comes to pass."

Henrietta sighed a little bitterly. "It won't be as easy as that dear, you know that. Finding a voidstone here on Earth, buried in our backyard of all places was a stroke of luck on our part. But even we still don't know where it comes out to" She shook her head, laying out the weapons, "It might even open to the elven lands for all we know."

"Good thing we're prepared for that possibility," her husband muttered. Not that he had any illusions about their chances if they found themselves facing an army. It didn't matter how many weapons they packed, they were still just two people. The Reconquisita had taught him that lesson of his limits very well. Their best hopes lay in not being found.

"I know you're looking for that Mobile SAM Launcher of yours... I think it's just a waste of space in our truck." Henrietta said as she watched her husband look inside the larger boxes.

"We will be facing Reconquista and that damned elf once we return." He rummaged through the larger boxes "And we can't always rely on your ofuda enhanced spells to take down Dragon Knights or Calvaries." He then looked at his wife, pouting a bit. "And it took me quite some time to get all this wonderful stuff from my friends on the JGSDF 1st Airborne…"

"Okay I get it, just stop pouting." She then looked at the guns that he packed on the bag and asked, "What will I use?"

"You'll be sticking with a Glock pistol." He replied, "That's the most reliable gun I think you can use."

She raised an eyebrow, "I will not be using long arms like that M4A1 SOPMOD carbine?"

"Your water magic plus your ofuda style casting practically makes you the equivalent of a human magic artillery cannon. The pistol I'll be giving you later is just a sidearm in case someone decides to get too close for comfort." He then took another empty magazine and started to load it with bullets, "I think bringing too many clips-"

"Magazines." She corrected. "Seriously, you trained yourself to be good at firearms for three years and yet you still don't know the proper terminologies."

He just scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Anyways, let's just finish packing our stuff so we can leave sooner. Anyways, have you prepared-"

"There are enough supplies to last us for a month and we can trade the jewelry for ecu once we're there." She replied.

"The letters?"

Henrietta tapped a pair of envelopes on the desk. "I have one for Kyouya-chan's school and another one for your superior. I've already told the manager at the bakery that I'll be leaving for Europe to visit a distant relative."

"Are you sure we have enough of everything?"

Henrietta put her hands on her hips, though the playful tilt to her lips robbed any anger from the gesture "Of course! You think I might forget, my beloved knight?"

"Of course not, my beloved princess," Saito proclaimed grandly, dropping to a knee as he took his wife's hand, "I told you already, I shall entrust my life to you-"

"-if you entrust yours to mine," she finished for him, lowering her head to capture his lips with hers. She broke it a few seconds later, flushing slightly as she did so. "Let's get going then, my knight. There is much to do and time is not a luxury we can afford."

Shaking his head in bemusement, Saito watched his wife go upstairs before turning his attention to the remaining boxes. She was right; they had a lot of work to do.

Their son was waiting.


	2. Crescent Moon Chapter One: Uneven Clouds

Chapter 01 – Tsuki ni Murakumo, Hana ni Kaze

Kyouya's vision was obscured by smoke. The last thing he knew was that he fell through a hole on the side walk and the world going dark on him. He then heard a female voice speak up in a different language, the tone clearly mocking Kyouya. Turning around to see the source, he saw that there were people behind him, with a pink haired girl talking to a bald guy that was holding-

"Wait a minute…" He muttered to himself as he instantly flipped his parent's novel to the first chapter and began to check the similarities of the surroundings and the location described in the book. After speed reading through the first few paragraphs, he lightly closed the book, took a deep calming breath, and began to slowly count to ten.

"I'm quite sure that I'm unconscious right now and currently dreaming of mom and dad's book and-" His thought was cut off when the pink haired girl he assumed as Louisa approached him and kissed him in the lips. He was about to berate the girl of derailing his train of thought when his left hand erupted in pain.

"Ow ow OW!" He yelled as he looked at the back of his left hand and saw the runes. "Okay… this is not a dream… this one's a real deal." Taking a deep calming breath, he then quickly approached the bald man, who according to the novel is the most knowledgeable among them.

-=0=-

Professor Colbert raised his eyebrow when Valliere's familiar approached him with a book in his hand. The familiar then gestured toward the book he's holding, then towards himself, particularly on his mouth, and began to shake his head. He then quickly pieced together the problem.

"Miss Valliere, it seems that your familiar can't understand and speak our language." Colbert said, earning gasps from the Louise and other students.

"Bu-but how's that possible?" Louise asked, clearly shocked, "The Springtime Ritual is supposed to get a familiar for a mage within Halkenginia! Not a commoner from unknown lands!"

"And that's the question that truly needs to be answered Miss Valliere," Colbert said, "Anyways, you should cast a Translation spell at him…" he then stopped himself and remembered how explosive her spells are.

He was too late to stop her though.

-=0=-

Kyouya coughed; smoke once again blocking his vision. "So this is what feels like to be hit by a magical equivalent of a cannon..."

As laughter suddenly filled the field because of his remark, a loud voice which he identified from his master was heard, "What do you mean by a magical equivalent of a cannon?"

It surprised him that this was the supposed "shy and timid" Nullcaster (not that she knew it) in the book, has a completely opposite attitude.

"Hmm," Kyouya began, "It's… a secret."

"Familiar! I order you to explain it to me!" His master said, stomping on the ground, almost throwing a temper tantrum.

"In private though." Kyouya replied, almost cringing at his master's attitude "And the proper term for human type of familiar is a Vanguard."

"I'll call you whatever I want!" She instantly snapped at him.

"Ye gods, terrible master is terrible." Kyouya joked, earning him a glare from his master, "Anyways, proper introductions is a must." Kneeling on his left knee, he spoke "I'm Kyouya Wales Hiraga. Vanguard of the West, the Gandalfr. To honor the eternal pact between Vanguards and Nullcasters, I ask of thy master's name."

-=0=-

Colbert eyed the self proclaimed Gandalfr with narrowed eyes. He knows what type of familiar a Gandalfr is and it was used by Founder Brimir 6,000 years ago. From the way this Kyouya Wales Hiraga speaks, it seems that he knows something about Valliere's problem. What did he mean though by calling himself the "Vanguard of the West"? What are Vanguards and why did he called Louise a Nullcaster?

With lots of questions forming in his head, Colbert dismissed the class for today since he has to report this development to the headmaster immediately.

-=0=-

After Colbert dismissed the class for the day, Louise brought Kyouya to her room so that he could start to explain what he's babbling about.

"Hey Louisa."

"It's Louise!" she gritted her teeth in frustration. "Louise Francoise Valliere!"

"Whoa, calm down!" he was surprised at her outburst, "You need to relax."

"I can't!" she yelled, "My chance of getting a majestic and powerful familiar is ruined!" then she pointed at him, "And it's all your fault!"

"Wait?" he was aghast at what his summoner said, "You blame me?"

"Yes!" she said as she began pacing around her room, "I'm supposed to get a familiar, like a griffin or a manticore but no!" She stomped on the floor, her anger evident. "All I got is a lousy commoner from distant lands!"

"Hope is the first step on the road of disappointment." He spoke loud enough which earned him another glare. "Seriously, life does not work that way." He then sat in a chair near the study table, "Life seldom deals you the cards you want. All you can do is play the hand you've been given."

She wanted to retort, but she couldn't find the right words to counter his. The words he spoke, though a bit cryptic, were true. Resigning dejectedly, she sat on her bed and began to cry.

"I- I have had enough with the teasing," she said as tears ran down her cheeks, "I don't want to be called Louise the Zero anymore. I hate it."

'She's unlike Louisa, who is a strong willed character;' he thought, as he sat beside his summoner and began to console her, 'Poor girl, her confidence has taken a beating. I must do something about this.' Looking outside the window, he began to compare the world he's in to the world his parents wrote while consoling his crying summoner.

-=0=-

"Are you sure that he called himself a Gandalfr?" Headmaster Osmond asked after Professor Colbert reported the events that transpired during the Springtime Summoning Ritual.

"Yes, and he also called himself the 'Vanguard of the West'." Colbert replied, taking out a few tomes from his robe, each of them had bookmarks on the different pages that told the story of Founder Brimir's trusted familiar, the Gandalfr. "I had never found any information regarding the Vanguards in any of these books that told about Founder Brimir's familiars. Though it seems that Miss Valliere has the potential of being a Void mage, or a Nullcaster, the term her familiar used earlier."

"That's quite a peculiar way of someone calling her a Void mage." Osmond noted, his curiosity piqued, "Anyways, I want you to monitor the letters that the students will send to their parents, block the letters that have information regarding Miss Valliere and her possible elemental affinity and keep this information from the palace. Knowing them, they might use her and Mr. Hiraga as weapons for war."

"I'll pass this to the other instructors." Colbert said before leaving the office.

-=0=-

After Louise has calmed down, Kyouya began his explanation about why she can't properly cast spells.

"Y-y-you're saying that my elemental affinity is HMMPH?" Louise has almost yelled the affinity, if not for Kyouya's timely intervention by covering her mouth with his hands.

"Yes," He sighed, "You need to learn how to keep your emotions from going crazy."

"How will I keep my emotions in check if you told me that I'm a Nullcas- I mean Void mage." She then gave him a pointed look, "Where did you got that term anyway?

"The source of that term will be revealed in due time. Anyways, you really need to learn how to control your emotions," He shook his head, "Your element does not follow standard spell casting rules. Every spell you cast is linked to the void and for it to work you need to have a long incantation." He then looked away and murmured, "I wished that her magic worked like the Denial of Nothingness."

"Denial of Nothingness?" Louise asked as her head tilted to the side, wondering what that was.

"Nothing," he dismissed her question as he continued, "Since you said that your affinity is a lost one, it's possible that the spell incantations that revolve around your affinity are well… already lost."

"No." Her shoulder slumped, thinking that she'll always be a failure because of her affinity.

"But I did not say that you can't learn it." He quickly added, "All we need to do is to experiment and see how we can improvise."

"Improvise?"

"Yes," He smiled, "What can you do?"

She grimaced, giving him a glare, "All I can do is make explosions."

"No," He shook his head, "What I mean is what your explosions can do." He then looked outside of the window and saw it was already nighttime, "I'm going out for a bit. Tomorrow afternoon, we will start experimenting. I'll try to get the stuff necessary for the experiments."

"Wait." She then took a basket filled with used articles of clothing, "Wash my clothes."

Kyouya gave her a flat look, "Mistress, I'm a Vanguard. I'm not your personal butler and I'm not feminine looking enough to cross-dress."

"Huh?" Louise was confused, especially at the last part that he said.

"It's nothing. It's just a personal joke." He shrugged as he picked up the laundry basket. "I'll just look for any servants who can do this."

-=0=-

Tokyo, Japan; U.N. Special Division "Esoteria" HQ, Briefing Room

"Girls," General Tsukasa Hiraga groaned, "You don't need to apologize for his disappearance."

"But General," a fair skinned girl with twintails said, her voice is full of worry, "If we just picked him up at his house, we could have stopped-"

"It's not your fault Lieutenant Sakuraba," General Hiraga assured, "It also happened to my grandson. I just never thought that it's going to be my great-grandson this time that will be pulled to another world."

"Pardon me if I'm going to sound a bit rude but," a girl with shoulder length hair spoke, "Another world? My mind seem can't embrace the fact that something that came out of anime and manga could happen."

"Yet as we saw it before our eyes earlier, it did, Sergeant Shimotsuki." General Hiraga said in a serious tone, "You know why Esoteria was formed ten years ago, right?"

"To investigate the mysterious disappearances of weapons, military hardware and people around the world during the last few decades." A tanned girl with blonde curly hair spoke, "But I don't see the connection to Kyou-kun's disappearance to all of that."

"Remember the news report where a Zero Fighter has suddenly showed up in Hokkaido two decades ago, Private Ramirez?"

"With all due respect sir," this time, a glasses wearing girl spoke, "we were not yet born during that time."

"Oh right, pardon me, Private Rockcastle." Coughing a bit, General Hiraga continued, "That plane was lost during the first few weeks of World War Two. While it's not strange to accidentally lose a plane or two during that war, we never accidentally lost a plane along with its pilot while they were about to take off. Plus, the other nations experienced similar, yet different cases. The Germans lost some of their tanks during WWII, Americans losing jeeps, weapon caches and personnel during the Vietnam War. The worst is probably the Russians, who admitted to losing a submarine full of nuclear ICBMs during the Cold War."

The girls blanched upon the revelation of a nation losing a sub full of nukes.

"Getting back on the subject," General Hiraga continued, "When Saito disappeared, our scientists reported that a huge energy pulse had been detected at the place he disappeared. Forward to the time when the Zero Fighter showed up in Hokkaido; another energy pulse had been detected. Three guesses as to who piloted that Zero Fighter."

"Your grandson… Mr. Hiraga." Lieutenant Sakuraba answered.

"That is correct." General Hiraga nodded. "When we found him and Henrietta inside the plane, the both of them were clearly suffering from PTSD. While getting a psychotherapist for Saito is easy, getting one for Henrietta is not." He grabbed his mug warm coffee and took a sip, "She was speaking in a different language. It sounded like French, probably Old French or something from the ancient and medieval Indo-European language, but it was too archaic to be understood. I can still remember her clinging onto Saito like her life was depending on it and when we tried to take him from her, she tried to kill the doctor by impaling him with a blade of ice that came out of nowhere. That blade of ice never made it to the intended target, as it suddenly shattered in midair. Saito told me that she is supposed to be a triangle class water mage and her spells shouldn't have failed."

"So, you're saying that Kyou-kun's mom is a mage, like in the video games?" Private Ramirez asked; awe in her voice obvious.

General Hiraga nodded in reply, "Our scientist theorize on what could have happened is that her spells and our world's energy are either clashing or not compatible to each other. It's like trying to plug a 220 volt radio to a 110 volt outlet or putting a DVD disk on a CD Drive. But we soon discovered that she just needs to use a different focus for her spells to work here." General Hiraga then eerily grinned when he remembered the first time Henrietta cast a spell using an Ofuda and her Gohei. The results were something that a demolitions expert would give a grade of A+.

"Does that mean that Kyou-kun can cast spells too?" a girl who was fiddling with her PSP asked, "Being the son of a mage and all that."

"He can't. Henrietta tried once when she subjected him in one of their 'roleplays' but nothing happened." General Hiraga answered, glaring a bit at the girl, "And stop playing games while we're briefing Private Suzumura or I'll throw that PSP from the rooftop of this building!"

Private Suzumura ignored the general as she continued to do what she's doing.

"Please forgive Private Suzumura's attitude." Lieutenant Sakuraba bowed at General Hiraga, "She-"

"I understand Lieutenant." General Hiraga said, pinching the bridge of his nose to stop the incoming headache. "I'm the one who is supposed to apologize about snapping at her." He shook his head, remembering the report he read about Private Suzumura's unique nature of playing games if she's in deep thought or stressed. "I thought Kyouya-kun has cured her already."

Then, a soldier entered the briefing room. "General Hiraga, a high energy pulse has been detected; the source is your grandson's house."

General Hiraga scratched the back of his head, annoyed at the sudden turn of events. "Those two…"

-=0=-

It was night time in Halkeginia when a green portal opened up on top of a hill. A few seconds later an ATV Truck painted with woodland camouflage came out of the portal and right after the truck exited, the portal disappeared in a flash of light.

"It seems that nothing has changed." Saito said as he peered out of the window and looked at the surrounding area.

"Dear, we're on top of a hill somewhere in Halkeginia." Henrietta said, stepping out of the ATV Truck, her gohei and ofuda were at the ready. "On our discussion earlier, I'm going to bet that they're still following Brimiric Religion."

Saito nodded as he got on top of the truck with his binoculars in hand and began to scan the area. "I still say that following Brimir's teachings has caused this continent's science and technology advancement to stagnate."

"That." Henrietta said, as she began to charge willpower into the ofuda she was holding, "And the nobles…" she pronounced the word 'nobles' with a bit of malice, "…feared that if science and technology trumped magic, it might cause them to lose their control over commoners." She threw a charged ofuda at the nearest tree, causing it to whither. A few seconds later, the tree was completely dried up. "Cast time has decreased and effect has doubled…" She muttered to herself.

"Dear, that's one scary trick you got there." Saito commented, looking at the dried up tree for a moment, "Greenpeace is going to have a word with you if they see this."

"I doubt Greenpeace will be approaching me if they see this." Raising the gohei onto the air, Henrietta softly muttered a chant; she then looked at the ofuda that is on the tree before quickly bringing down her gohei. The result of that was the ofuda exploding and flash freezing the whole tree. "Oh dear…" She said in a bit of shock, "It's supposed to be the trunk, not the whole tree."

Saito whistled, impressed at the display. "What else can you do?"

"I can turn the water into acid-" Henrietta was about to continue on her colorful description when Saito coughed a bit to catch her attention.

"I love you honey." He spoke, looking at her with the flattest expression he could muster, "But sometimes, you scare the shit out of me."

"Good!" She said happily while giving him one of her brightest smiles, "That means you won't be cheating at me anytime soon, unless you want Little Saito to be melted. It would be bad for our future children. Don't you agree?"

He shuddered, remembering the time she got fascinated by anime and otaku culture, especially the yandere characters.

'God, you have a nasty sense of humor.' He shook his head; he truly loved her, he promised himself that he would take care of her and their family, and he knew deep inside that he doesn't have the balls to cheat on his magical wife.

"Anyways, where are we going to first?" She asked as she looked at him, who is still on top of the truck.

"It seems that there's a village a few kilometers away from here." He said as he pointed in the general direction of the village. "We can exchange our jewelry there to Ecu then we can probably acquire a map and decent lodging for the night."

She nodded, and then she went to the passenger seat and took her Glock 21 side arm along with the jewelry. "Shall we start walking now?"

"Wait, I need to get some stuff first." He went over to the back of the truck and grabbed his M4 MWS, two flash grenades, his Glock 21, a extra magazine for the M4 and Glock, two stab vests and a Kukri.

"Um… honey," She spoke, skeptic at the things her husband will be bringing, "I understand the need of a stab vest, but what are the flash grenades, the M4, and the Kukri for? I thought we were going to go to the village to sleep for the night and exchange the jewelry for Ecu."

"Insurance against anything we face on the road." He said, wrapping the M4 in brown cloth. He knew that exposing the M4 in public will surely attract trouble. "I have a feeling that our jewelry will attract flies." He knows that they will be targeted by thieves and bandits once the word gets out that they carry lots of jewelry and money on them. "Plus, I will not be leaving Margareth behind." He then raised his trusted Kukri.

"Okay… You named your kukri." She said in a flat tone, clearly unimpressed. She then looked at the truck and asked "Will we leave the truck here?"

"I'll hide it in the forest. No one will surely notice it because of the camouflage."

"Okay," She nodded as she took out two cloaks from seemingly out of nowhere.

"Is that… hammer-space?" He asked as he raised an eyebrow at the seemingly convenient magic his wife did.

"Yep, but it's still in the experimental stage." She answered, handing a cloak to her husband "I can only use it for a few items and those items must not exceed the two kilo limit."

"What will happen if the weight went beyond two kilo?"

"The spell will be cancelled, and you would not be able to get all the items you put in there."

He winced, instantly thinking that putting all of his guns inside his wife's hammer-space was a bad idea. "Let's get going then. The sooner we find Kyouya, the better. We need to find a way out of this nightmare."

"Yeah," She then looked at the twin half-moons, "out of this nightmarish yet beautiful world."

The two then proceeded to walk towards the village.


End file.
